China, accused of using forced labor in its predominantly Muslim region of Xinjiang, ratified, on Wednesday April 20, the international conventions prohibiting this practice.

China's ratification of the International Labor Organization (ILO) conventions on forced labor was one of the conditions set by the European Union to ratify a bilateral investment agreement reached at the end of 2020.

The standing committee of the National People's Congress (ANP, China's parliament) has ratified the 1930 ILO Convention on Forced Labor and the 1957 Convention on the Abolition of Forced Labor, parliament announced after of a three-day session.

This ratification comes as an ILO committee of experts expressed last February its "deep concern" about the treatment of ethnic and religious minorities in China, particularly in Xinjiang.

According to human rights organizations, at least a million Uyghurs and members of other Muslim ethnicities are or have been incarcerated in camps in this region of northwestern China. 

Beijing says they are vocational training centers meant to steer them away from terrorism and separatism.

>> To see: China: Xinjiang cotton singled out

ILO experts had demanded that Beijing "reorient the mandate of vocational training and education centers" which are currently "centers for political re-education based on administrative detentions".

The subject is of concern to the international community.

Thus, a law prohibiting the purchase of products that would be made from the forced labor of the Uyghurs came into force in December 2021 in the United States, which accuses China of genocide against this minority.

Beijing vigorously rejects this accusation, which has forced some multinationals to pledge not to supply to Xinjiang.

In 2021, the Swedish clothing giant H&M thus found itself facing a boycott of its stores in China after pledging not to buy cotton from Xinjiang.

'Meaningful and unimpeded access' to Xinjiang

The controversy prompted the Europeans to mention the issue of forced labor in the investment protection agreement they reached with Beijing on December 31, 2020.

In this text, supposed to protect European investments in China, Beijing undertook “to work for the ratification of the fundamental conventions of the ILO, including those (prohibiting) forced labor”, had then indicated Brussels.

The ratification of the agreement has since been frozen, following the mutual sanctions taken in 2021 by Europe and China around the question of Xinjiang.

In March 2021, the European Union, the United States and Canada sanctioned four leaders and one entity from this Chinese region.

In response, Beijing retaliated with sanctions against a dozen European personalities, including five elected members of the European Parliament, accused of "spreading lies".

The ratification of ILO conventions comes as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, will travel to China next month for a long-awaited visit.

Michelle Bachelet has been asking Beijing for years for "meaningful and unhindered access" to Xinjiang, where she is also expected to visit during her trip to China.

With AFP

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